


Talking and Walking

by saturn_shumba



Category: Community
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-14
Updated: 2011-06-14
Packaged: 2017-10-20 09:50:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/211468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saturn_shumba/pseuds/saturn_shumba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Do you remember what you said to me after your birthday party?</i> Annie and Troy go to the movies and do some talking and walking. (Post Mixology Certification.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Talking and Walking

Annie stared at the phone on her desk. A minute ticked by on the phone's clock, but Annie didn't move. She kept her hands locked together on her lap. Another minute ticked by.

She was stalling. She knew it. But...what if he got the wrong idea? What if she called him and he thought she was in love with him or something? Given their "history", it wouldn't be a stretch to believe that she had some sort of ulterior love motive. But she didn't have one. Not this time.

Annie took a deep breath and picked up the phone. Her fingers hovered nervously over the keys for a second, before firmly punching in his number. She listened to it ring. And ring. It went to voicemail.

Annie opened her mouth to leave a message, changed her mind, and hung up. She dropped the phone back on the desk and slouched in her chair, arms crossed.

A bottle smashed against the bars of her bedroom window. Annie didn't flinch, had stopped flinching after the fifth time it happened. It was just Bill, pissed at her window for some unknown reason.

She could try calling the house.

This time Annie didn't hesitate. She dialed quickly so that she wouldn't waste another half-hour staring at her phone. Someone picked up on the third ring.

"Hawthorne's crib, who's calling?"

The greeting was so ridiculous that it shocked Annie right out of a regular greeting. "Do you always answer the phone like that?"

"That's what Pierce told me to say. Anyway, what's up?"

"Oh! Sorry, this is Annie."

"I know. What's up?"

"I'm calling for Troy."

"...You know it's me right? Oh my God, do I sound identical to _Pierce_? This can't be happening!"

"No! You don't sound like Pierce, it's just...I forgot...formal greeting..." Annie cleared her throat. "How are you?"

"Okay."

"Good."

"Yep."

Silence. Annie scratched a fingernail across the top of her desk.

"Troy?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you...um...are you busy?"

"Not really. Pierce is hooking up his new blu-ray player and he won't let me help him. He's been at it for, like, five hours."

Annie giggled. It sounded high pitched and nervous. She coughed. "That sucks. Anyway, umm, since you're not busy...do you want to go to the movies or something?"

Silence again. Annie frowned. She knew it. Troy _totally_ thought that she was trying to hit on him! Oh, God. Why the hell did she do this?

"Sure. Sounds cool."

"Really? I mean, great! I'll meet you in front of the theater at about...umm...eight-ish?"

"Cool. What are we seeing?"

“I thought we could go to Tron: Legacy."

"Abed and went to that last week."

"Oh. Umm...how about..." Annie opened up her laptop and scrolled through the other movies that were showing.

"Black Swan?"

"Too scary."

“The King's Speech?"

"Too British."

"Umm...True Grit?"

"Seen it."

"Tangled?"

"Sounds good. See you at eight."

"Bye--" Annie said, but Troy had already hung up. She stared at her phone, irritated, before breaking into a grin.

Another bottle smashed against the bars of her window. "Oh, give it a rest, Bill!"

"I HATE YOU, DEBBIE!"

Annie sighed.

* * *

Annie was surprised to see Troy waiting for her by the theater's front doors. She took out her phone and glanced at the time---she wasn't late. He was early.

She didn't expect that.

He looked happy to see her. Annie made a big show about paying for her own ticket, but let Troy buy her a Diet Coke.

As they settled into their seats in the theater, Annie noticed they still had ten minutes before the movie started. What could they talk about? What would be appropriate? Nothing too heavy, since they only had ten minutes. She could try some small talk, but it would be redundant, since they already said all their 'How are yous' as they walked to the concession stand. Annie discreetly looked over at Troy. He was shoveling popcorn into his mouth. He didn't seem to notice or care about the silence between them, so Annie decided to follow his example. She took a sip of her Diet Coke and lifted her legs up, pushing her feet against the seat in front of her, rocking the chair back and forth.

Troy gave her a weird look. "What are you doing?"

Annie stopped abruptly. Her feet slid down the back of the seat to the floor. "Sorry."

"Why?" Troy lifted up his legs and began to push on the seat in front of him. "It looked like fun." Troy started pushing on the seat more vigorously. “It _is_ fun."

Annie started pushing on her seat again, too. "Isn't it?"

* * *

After the movie, they both stood outside of the theater. Troy shoved his hands in his pockets; Annie tilted her head towards the sky. It was snowing a little. Flurries.

After a minute of silence, Troy cleared his throat. "Well, I guess I'll see you in a couple of days. Are you gonna buy your books on Saturday?"

Annie shook her head. "Already done." She was still looking at the sky. She looked back at Troy. He was nudging his foot against a patch of ice on the sidewalk that hadn't melted. She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Do you wanna go for a walk?"

Troy looked up. "Right now?"

Annie shrugged. "Sure. C'mon, we'll go to the park." She motioned for him to follow her.

Troy hesitated for a moment before following. "I _do_ love me some walking."

* * *

They were on the swings. Annie kicked her legs back and forth, her hair whipping in her face. Troy was standing on his swing, so he couldn't go as high as she could. But he could still go pretty high.

Annie slowed down and let her feet drag across the sand below her. Troy slowed down too, but he didn't completely stop swinging. Annie mimicked his relaxed pace.

She looked up at Troy, who was staring at his feet and smiling. She smiled too, even though he couldn't see. "What?"

Troy looked over at her. "This reminds of the time Jeff and I found that trampoline. Except not creepy. Or racist."

Annie laughed. "That week was so weird. We turned Abed into a mean girl terminator."

"Yeah, well...he got better, at least."

Annie laughed again.

* * *

After they left the park, they decided to cut through Greendale's campus.

"This place is pretty creepy at night," Troy said. Annie noticed his voice had edged a big higher. He would look behind them every few minutes, like someone was following them.

She couldn't resist.

"It _is_ pretty creepy. Especially when you know about the...well, you know."

Troy stopped walking. "What?"

Annie took a few more steps before stopping as well. She turned around dramatically.

"You know...the _zombie rats_."

" _What_?"

Annie bit her lip to keep from laughing at Troy's high pitched tone.

* * *

"So, umm...why did you ask me to go out with you tonight?"

They were sitting on the steps in front of the library. Even on vacation, the building drew them in. Annie looked down at her shoes. The bow on the left shoe was starting to fray on the ends. She couldn't decide if that bothered her enough to buy a new pair.

"Do you remember what you said to me after your birthday party?"

Troy didn't say anything. She didn't look up as he scooted down so they were sitting on the same step. Annie took a deep breath and leaned back, resting her elbows a few steps above the one she was sitting on. She stretched out her legs in front of her.

"It was nice, you know? And it felt like...no more teenage Annie, no more teenage Troy. Just Annie and Troy. Friends." She looked over at Troy. "Do you know what I mean?"

Troy stared at her. Then, slowly, he started to smile. Annie smiled back. "Yeah. Yeah, I know what you mean."

Annie sat up straight and drew her knees her chest. "Good. And now that we have this new thing, you can tell me all about how you love Britta."

"As long as you tell me how Jeff is the center of your world."

Annie flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Oh, please. I've moved on."

"Maybe. But has he?"

"I mean, Jeff--wait what?"

"Nothing."

"No, Troy! Not nothing! What did you mean?"

"I thought you 'moved on.'"

"I...I have! I only care as a friend."

"A friend who made out with him. _Twice_."

"Jeff...you...it's...YOU LOVE BRITTA!"

Troy threw back his head and laughed.

* * *

They made plans to go to lunch on Saturday, after Troy bought his books.

As Annie walked towards her building, she noticed Bill hovering around her bedroom window. He had a beer bottle in his hand. She frowned. Bill pulled back his arm to throw the bottle against her window. He paused, his arm in the air. Then he turned around and threw the bottle against the garages lined up across from Annie's room.

Annie smiled to herself and walked towards her apartment. It wasn't a huge change, but at least he was going in a new direction.


End file.
